Looks briefly at reading instruction throughout the 20th century, noting how it has moved from the alphabetic method, to the sight method of Dick and Jane, back to decoding, then to the extensive use of literature in whole-language programs, swinging back toward more skills instruction. Hopes that the millennium will allow the development of…

Explores how insights of the 1970s are being lost, namely, those about why and how the academy thinks about basic writing and students deemed "illiterate" or "remedial." Examines a discourse that the author calls Basic Writing and how it has marginalized basic writing courses, teachers, and students. (TB)

Points out that issues in performance studies (oral interpretation) such as natural and literary language, performing ideology, and marginalized voices are not only not revolutionary but an extension or a return to traditional concerns of a 300-year tradition. (SR)

Suggests the need to understand how indirect social conditions shaped prison reformers' ideals and struggles. Examines the impact of prisoners' agency on the history of a key movement in prison education: the development of the Mutual Welfare Leagues. (JOW)

Analyzed Norwegian party platforms from 1945 to 1997 for their content related to education. Findings indicate that the basic ideas of social democratic progessivism have been carried forward, but that there has been a shift to the right emphasizing freedom, competition, different alternatives, and more consideration of the interests of business…

Accorded little space and place by universities, academic adult education still made significant inroads in the United States and Canada from 1917 to 1970. The expansion was linked to the growth of higher education and graduate professional programs. (SK)

Before the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, agricultural schools begun in 11 Virginia congressional districts in 1908 performed a great deal of extension work, such as agricultural demonstrations, youth activities, and home economics programs. This helped pave the way for formal extension programs established by the legislation. (SK)

Summarizes the activities of the Young Explorers Trust (Great Britain) over the past 25 years including funding, expedition sites, purposes of expeditions, and origins of expeditions. Comments on the origin, growth, and trends in expedition adventure programming. (SAS)

The paper presents a brief history, from the 1920s to the present, of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) on its 75th anniversary. Major points include: (1) significant progress has been made in the content, methods, and accessibility of mathematics classes over the past 75 years; (2) NCTM has shown strong leadership in…

This paper discusses the life and work of Lawrence A. Cremin (1925-1990), an important historian of U.S. education. One of Cremin's most notable works was the 1961 "Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education, 1876-1957." Cremin was on the faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University (New York) for 41 years.…

The Indiana Council for the Social Studies (ICSS) was founded in 1938 to specifically address the needs of social studies education in the state. The recurring themes addressed by ICSS members include academic freedom, teacher certification requirements, "back to basics," textbook adopting standards, curriculum revision, citizenship,…

This paper delineates conceptions of early childhood programs from the 18th through the 20th centuries, and reveals how the programs changed as the concept of what constitutes knowledge changed. Discussion begins with reading instruction and hornbooks in Colonial America, and national language learning in the knitting school of Jean Frederick…

This book is a history of the National Council of Teachers of English from its beginnings in 1911 through 1978. The nine chapters describe the beginning of the Council; its attempts to improve the teaching of English, especially at the secondary level; the development of the Council during and after World War I; the growing concern for…

This article describes what is known of Arnold L. Gesell's position in Connecticut between 1914-1919, including conditions of employment and responsibilities. While some questions remain unanswered regarding Gesell's acquisition of the title "school psychologist," it is concluded that he was the first U.S. practitioner to hold that…

Examines the Carnegie Forum and Holmes Group reports on U. S. education. Points out that both reports assume there is an agreed-upon body of knowledge about teaching and learning. Notes the reports differ on where the roots of professional knowledge lie and examines both reports' arguments in this regard. (RKM)